Life expectancy has increased progressively in recent years. In Spain, the life expectancy of women and men in the period between 1992 and 2012 has gone from 80.7 and 73.5 years to 85.1 and 79.4 years respectively, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
We are living longer and we want to maintain our quality of life. However, the increase in life expectancy leads to an increase in the number of people suffering from chronic pain. Chronic pain is defined as pain that people suffer continuously for more than three months.
The patient with chronic pain suffers on a daily basis, on a personal, family, work and social level. The correct diagnosis and the choice of the most appropriate treatment for each patient’s pathology is the mission of the multidisciplinary team of the Pain Clinic at Hospital Quirón Teknon under the coordination of Dr. Luis Aliaga Font.
Pain can develop into a chronic disease, and like chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension or asthma, it requires ongoing medical attention to reduce its physical and emotional impact on the patient and those around him or her. However, according to the Spanish Pain Society (SED), half of the patients suffering from chronic pain take an average of two years to get an adequate diagnosis and treatment.
Chronic pain is no longer exclusive to patients affected by oncological processes. Today it affects both young and older people, with chronic pain in the lower back being the most frequent, followed by those located in the lower extremities and migraines.
Personalized treatment and commitment to research
The Pain Clinic at Hospital Quirón Teknon provides its patients with a diagnostic process under the supervision of a multidisciplinary medical team that includes specialists in anesthesia, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, psychology, rheumatology, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery and acupuncture. Each patient receives personalized treatment because each person is unique.
The treatment received by each patient at the Clínica del Dolor is based on the practice of the most advanced interventional techniques and the combination of other complementary therapies such as psychological support, acupuncture and biofeedback techniques, depending on the patient’s pathology.
In addition to having a highly qualified multidisciplinary team, the main hallmark of the Clínica del Dolor is its unwavering commitment to research in the field of chronic pain. The Clínica del Dolor organizes theoretical and practical conferences aimed at physicians, as well as patients themselves, such as those held on June 13. At the same time, it maintains a close collaboration with the Millenium Pain Center in Chicago, which has resulted in the development and implementation of joint scientific projects.
The medical and scientific teams of the Pain Clinic at Hospital Quirón Teknon and the Millennium Pain Center in Chicago, coordinated respectively by Dr. Luis Aliaga and Prof. Ricardo Vallejo, are authors of numerous international research studies and publications. In addition, their scientific responsibility has resulted in public recognition of their lines of research, such as the case of the TV3 Marathon Grant (2008).